The Nibelungenlied

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The Nibelungenlied: The Lay of the Nibelungs (Oxford World's Classics)

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Das Nibelungenlied: Song of the Nibelungs

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The Nibelungenlied: with The Klage

The Nibelungenlied: Classic Epic Poems (Top 100 Classic Epic Poems)

Das Nibelungenlied (German Edition)

The Nibelungenlied

Das Nibelungenlied (Cabra-Lederausgabe)

The Nibelungenlied

Originally written in Middle High German (M.H.G.), sometimearound 1200 A.D., although this dating is by no means certain.Author unknown.

The text of this edition is based on that published as "TheNibelungenlied", translated by Daniel B. Shumway (Houghton-Mifflin Co., New York, 1909). This edition is in the PUBLICDOMAIN in the United States.

PREPARER'S NOTE:In order to make this electronic edition easier to use, thepreparer has found it necessary to re-arrange the endnotes of Mr.Shumway's edition, collating them with the chapters themselvesand substituting page references with footnote references. Thepreparer takes full responsibility for these changes. -- DBK.

Saxo Grammaticus: "The First Nine Books of the Danish History",Translated by Oliver Elton (London, 1894; Reissued by the OnlineMedieval and Classical Library as E-Text OMACL #28, 1997).

PREFACE

This work has been undertaken in the belief that a literaltranslation of as famous an epic as the "Nibelungenlied" would beacceptable to the general reading public whose interest in thestory of Siegfried has been stimulated by Wagner's operas and bythe reading of such poems as William Morris' "Sigurd theVolsung". Prose has been selected as the medium of translation,since it is hardly possible to give an accurate rendering and atthe same time to meet the demands imposed by rhyme and metre; atleast, none of the verse translations made thus far havesucceeded in doing this. The prose translations, on the otherhand, mostly err in being too continuous and in condensing toomuch, so that they retell the story instead of translating it. The present translator has tried to avoid these two extremes. Hehas endeavored to translate literally and accurately, and toreproduce the spirit of the original, as far as a prosetranslation will permit. To this end the language has been madeas simple and as Saxon in character as possible. An exceptionhas been made, however, in the case of such Romance words as werein use in England during the age of the romances of chivalry, andwhich would help to land a Romance coloring; these have beenfrequently employed. Very few obsolete words have been used, andthese are explained in the notes, but the language has been madeto some extent archaic, especially in dialogue, in order to givethe impression of age. At the request of the publishers theIntroduction Sketch has been shorn of the apparatus ofscholarship and made as popular as a study of the poem and itssources would allow. The advanced student who may be interestedin consulting authorities will find them given in theintroduction to the parallel edition in the Riverside LiteratureSeries. A short list of English works on the subject had,however, been added.

In conclusion the translator would like to thank his colleagues,C.G. Child and Cornelius Weygandt, for their helpful suggestionsin starting the work, and also to acknowledge his indebtedness tothe German edition of Paul Piper, especially in preparing thenotes.

-- DANIEL BUSSIER SHUMWAY,Philadelphia, February 15, 1909.

INTRODUCTORY SKETCH

There is probably no poem of German literature that has excitedsuch universal interest, or that has been so much studied anddiscussed, as the "Nibelungenlied". In its present form it is aproduct of the age of chivalry, but it reaches back to theearliest epochs of German antiquity, and embraces not only thepageantry of courtly chivalry, but also traits of ancientGermanic folklore and probably of Teutonic mythology. One of itsearliest critics fitly called it a German "Iliad", for, like thisgreat Greek epic, it goes back to the remotest times and unitesthe monumental fragments of half-forgotten myths and historicalpersonages into a poem that is essentially national in character,and the embodiment of all that is great in the antiquity of therace. Though lacking to some extent the dignity of the "Iliad",the "Nibelungenlied" surpasses the former in the deep tragedywhich pervades it, the tragedy of fate, the inevitableretribution for crime, the never-dying struggle between thepowers of good and evil, between light and darkness.

That the poem must have been exceedingly popular during theMiddle Ages is evinced by the great number of Manuscripts thathave come down to us. We possess in all twenty-eight more orless complete MSS., preserved in thirty-one fragments, fifteen ofwhich date from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Of allthese MSS., but nine are so well preserved that, in spite of someminor breaks, they can be considered complete. Of this numberthree, designated respectively as A, B, C, are looked upon as themost important for purposes of textual criticism, and around thema fierce battle has been waged, which is not even yet settled.(1) It is now generally conceded that the longest MS., C, is alater redaction with many additional strophes, but opinions aredivided as to whether the priority should be given to A or B, theprobabilities being that B is the more original, A merely acareless copy of B.

In spite of the great popularity of the "Nibelungenlied", thepoem was soon forgotten by the mass of the people. With thedecay of courtly chivalry and the rise of the prosperous citizenclass, whose ideals and testes lay in a different direction, thisepic shared the fate of many others of its kind, and wasrelegated to the dusty shelves of monastery or ducal libraries,there to wait till a more cultured age, curious as to theliterature of its ancestors, should bring it forth from itshiding places. However, the figures of the old legend were notforgotten, but lived on among the people, and were finallyembodied in a popular ballad, "Das Lied vom Hurnen Segfrid",which has been preserved in a print of the sixteenth century,although the poem itself is thought to go back at least to thethirteenth. The legend was also dramatized by Hans Sachs, theshoemaker poet of Nuremberg, and related in prose form in a chapbook which still exists in prints of the eighteenth century. Thestory and the characters gradually became so vague and distorted,that only a trained eye could detect in the burlesque figures ofthe popular account the heroes of the ancient Germanic Legend.

The honor of rediscovering the "Nibelungenlied" and of restoringit to the world of literature belongs to a young physician by thename of J.H. Obereit, who found the manuscript C at the castle ofHohenems in the Tirol on June 29, 1755; but the scientific studyof the poem begins with Karl Lachmann, one of the keenestphilological critics that Germany has ever produced. In 1816 heread before the University of Berlin his epoch-making essay uponthe original form of the "Nibelungenlied". Believing that thepoem was made up of a number of distinct ballads or lays, hesought by means of certain criteria to eliminate all parts whichwere, as he thought, later interpolations or emendations. As aresult of this sifting and discarding process, he reduced thepoem to what he considered to have been its original form,namely, twenty separate lays, which he thought had come down tous in practically the same form in which they had been sung byvarious minstrels.

This view is no longer held in its original form. Though we haveevery reason to believe that ballads of Siegfried the dragonkiller, of Siegfried and Kriemhild, and of the destruction of theNibelungs existed in Germany, yet these ballads are no longer tobe seen in our poem. They formed merely the basis or source forsome poet who thought to revive the old heroic legends of theGerman past which were familiar to his hearers and to adapt themto the tastes of his time. In all probability we must assumetwo, three, or even more steps in the genesis of the poem. Thereappear to have been two different sources, one a Low Germanaccount, quite simple and brief, the other a tradition of theLower Rhine. The legend was perhaps developed by minstrels alongthe Rhine, until it was taken and worked up into its present formby some Austrian poet. Who this poet was we do not know, but wedo know that he was perfectly familiar with all the details ofcourtly etiquette. He seems also to have been acquainted withthe courtly epics of Heinrich von Veldeke and Hartman von Ouwe,but his poem is free from the tedious and often exaggerateddescriptions of pomp, dress, and court ceremonies, that mar thebeauty of even the best of the courtly epics. Many painstakingattempts have been made to discover the identity of the writer ofour poem, but even the most plausible of all these theories whichconsiders Kurenberg, one of the earliest of the "Minnesingers",to be the author, because of the similarity of the strophic formof our poem to that used by him, is not capable of absoluteproof, and recent investigations go to show that Kurenberg wasindebted to the "Nibelungen" strophe for the form of his lyric,and not the "Nibelungenlied" to him. The "Nibelungen" strophe ispresumably much older, and, having become popular in Austriathrough the poem, was adopted by Kurenberg for his purposes. Asto the date of the poem, in its present form it cannot go backfurther than about 1190, because of the exactness of the rhymes,nor could it have been written later than 1204, because ofcertain allusions to it in the sixth book of "Parzival", which weknow to have been written at this date. The two Low German poemswhich probably form the basis of our epic may have been unitedabout 1150. It was revised and translated into High German andcirculated at South German courts about 1170, and then receivedits present courtly form about 1190, this last version being theimmediate source of our manuscripts.

The story of Siegfried, his tragic death, and the dire vengeancevisited upon his slayers, which lies at the basis of our poem,antedates the latter by many centuries, and was known to allnations whose languages prove by their resemblance to the Germantongue their original identity with the German people. Not onlyalong the banks of the Rhine and the Danube and upon the uplandplains of Southern Germany, but also along the rocky fjords ofNorway, among the Angles and Saxons in their new home across thechannel, even in the distant Shetland Islands and on the snow-covered wastes of Iceland, this story was told around the firesat night and sung to the harp in the banqueting halls of kingsand nobles, each people and each generation telling it in its ownfashion and adding new elements of its own invention. This greatgeographical distribution of the legend, and the variety of formsin which it appears, make it difficult to know where we must seekits origin. The northern version is in many respects older andsimpler in form than the German, but still it is probable thatNorway was not the home of the saga, but that it took its rise inGermany along the banks of the Rhine among the ancient tribe ofthe Franks, as is shown by the many geographical names that arereminiscent of the characters of the story, such as a Siegfried"spring" in the Odenwald, a Hagen "well" at Lorsch, a Brunhild"bed" near Frankfort, and the well-known "Drachenfels", orDragon's Rock, on the Rhine. It is to Norway, however, that wemust go for our knowledge of the story, for, singularly enough,with the exception of the "Nibelungenlied" and the popularballad, German literature has preserved almost no trace of thelegend, and such as exist are too late and too corrupt to be ofmuch use in determining the original features of the story.

Just when the legend emigrated to Skandinavia we do not know, butcertainly at an early date, perhaps during the opening years ofthe sixth century. It may have been introduced by Germantraders, by slaves captured by the Northmen on their frequentmarauding expeditions, or, as Mogk believes, may have been takenby the Heruli on their return to Norway after their defeat by theLangobardi. By whatever channel, however, the story reached theNorth, it became part and parcel of Skandinavian folklore, onlycertain names still pointing to the original home of the legend.In the ninth century, when Harald Harfagr changed the ancientfree constitution of the land, many Norwegians emigrated toIceland, taking with them these acquired legends, which werebetter preserved in this remote island because of the peacefulintroduction of Christianity, than on the Continent, where theChurch was more antagonistic to the customs and legends of theheathen period.

The Skandinavian version of the Siegfried legend has been handeddown to us in five different forms. The first of these is thepoetic or older "Edda", also called Saemund's "Edda", as it wasassigned to the celebrated Icelandic scholar Saemundr Sigfusson. The "Codex Regius", in which it is preserved, dates from themiddle of the thirteenth century, but is probably a copy of anolder manuscript. The songs it contains were written at varioustimes, the oldest probably in the first half of the ninthcentury, the latest not much before the date of the earliestmanuscript. Most of them, however, belong to the Viking period,when Christianity was already beginning to influence theNorwegians, that is, between the years 800 and 1000. They arepartly heroic, partly mythological in character, and are writtenin alliterative strophes interspersed with prose, and have theform of dialogues. Though the legends on which these songs arebased were brought from Norway, most of them were probablycomposed in Iceland. Among these songs, now, we find a numberwhich deal with the adventures of Siegfried and his tragic end.

The second source of the Siegfried story is the so-called"Volsungasaga", a prose paraphrase of the "Edda" songs. The MS.dates from the beginning of the thirteenth century, but theaccount was probably written a century earlier. The adventuresof Siegfried and his ancestors are here related in great detailand his ancestry traced back to Wodan. Although a secondarysource, as it is based on the "Edda", the "Volsungasaga" isnevertheless of great importance, since it supplies a portion ofthe "Codex Regius" which has been lost, and thus furnishes uswith the contents of the missing songs.

The third source is the prose "Edda", sometimes called the"Snorra Edda", after the famous Icelander Snorri Sturluson(1178-1241),to whom it was ascribed. The author was acquaintedwith both the poetic "Edda" and the "Volsungasaga", and followsthese accounts closely. The younger "Edda" is not really a tale,but a book of poetics; it relates, however, the Siegfried sagabriefly. It is considered an original source, since it evidentlymade use of songs that have not come down to us, especially inthe account of the origin of the treasure, which is here toldmore in detail and with considerable differences. The"Nornagestsaga" or "Nornageststhattr", the story of "Nornagest",forms the fourth source of the Siegfried story. It is really apart of the Olaf saga, but contains the story of Sigurd andGunnar (the Norse forms of Siegfried and Gunther), which an oldman Nornagest relates to King Olaf Tryggvason, who converted theNorwegians to Christianity. The story was written about 1250 toillustrate the transition from heathendom to the Christian faith. It is based on the "Edda" and the "Volsungasaga", and istherefore of minor importance as a source.

These four sources represent the early introduction of theSiegfried legend into Skandinavia. A second introduction tookplace about the middle of the thirteenth century, at the time ofthe flourishing of the Hanseatic League, when the story wasintroduced together with other popular German epics. These poemsare products of the age of chivalry, and are characterized by theromantic and courtly features of this movement. The one whichconcerns us here, as the fifth source of the Siegfried story, isthe so-called "Thidreksaga", which celebrates the adventures ofthe famous legendary hero, Dietrich of Berne, the historicalTheodorich of Ravenna. In as far as it contains the adventuresof the Nibelungs, it is also called the "Niflungasaga". The"Thidreksaga" was written about 1250 by a Norwegian who, as hehimself tells us, heard the story from Germans in theneighborhood of Bremen and Munster. Since it is thus based onSaxon traditions, it can be considered an independent source ofthe legend, and, in fact, differs from the earlier Norse versionsin many important details. The author was acquainted, however,with the older versions, and sought to compromise between them,but mostly followed his German authorities.

The story, as given in the older Norse versions, is in mostrespects more original than in the "Nibelungenlied". It relatesthe history of the treasure of the Nibelungs, tracing it back toa giant by the name of "Hreithmar", who received it from the god"Loki" as a compensation for the killing of the former's son"Otur", whom Loki had slain in the form of an otter. Lokiobtained the ransom from a dwarf named "Andwari", who in turn hadstolen it from the river gods of the Rhine. Andwari pronounces aterrible curse upon the treasure and its possessors, and thiscurse passes from Loki to the Giant Hreithmar, who is murderedwhen asleep by his two sons "Fafnir" and "Regin". The latter,however, is cheated out of the coveted prize by Fafnir, whocarries it away to the "Gnita" heath, where he guards it in theform of a dragon.

This treasure, with its accompanying curse, next passes into thehands of a human being named Sigurd (the Norse form of Siegfried,as we have seen), a descendant of the race of the Volsungs, whotrace their history back to Wodan and are especially favored byhim. The full story of Siegfried's ancestry is far too long torelate here, and does not especially concern us, as it has littleor no influence on the later development of the story. It issufficient for our purpose to know that Siegfried was the son ofSiegmund, who was slain in battle before the birth of his son.Sigurd was carefully reared by his mother "Hjordis" and the wisedwarf Regin, who taught him the knowledge of runes and of manylanguages. (2) At the suggestion of Regin, Sigurd asks for andreceives the steed "Grani" from the king, and is then urged byhis tutor to help him obtain the treasure guarded by the latter'sbrother Fafnir. Sigurd promises, but first demands a sword.Two, that arc given him by Regin, prove worthless, and he forgesa new one from the pieces of his father's sword, which his motherhad preserved. With this he easily splits the anvil and cuts intwo a flake of wool, floating down the Rhine. He first avengesthe death of his father, and then sets off with Regin to attackthe dragon Fafnir. At the advice of the former Sigurd digs aditch across the dragon's peth and pierces him from below withhis sword, as the latter comes down to drink. In dying thedragon warns Sigurd against the treasure and its curse, andagainst Regin, who, he says, is planning Sigurd's death,intending to obtain the treasure for himself.

When Regin sees the dragon safely dead, he creeps from his placeof concealment, drinks of the blood, and, cutting out the heart,begs Sigurd to roast it for him. While doing so, Sigurd burnshis fingers, and, putting them in his mouth, understands at oncethe language of the birds and hears them say that Sigurd himselfshould eat the heart and then he would be wiser than all othermen. They also betray Regin's evil designs, and counsel the ladto kill his tutor. This Sigurd then does, cutting off Regin'shead, drinking the blood of both brothers, and eating Fafnir'sheart. (3) On the further advice of the birds Sigurd firstfetches the treasure from the cave, and then journeys to themountain "Hindarfjall", where he rescues the sleeping Valkyrie,"Sigrdrifu" ("Brynhild", "Brunhild"), who, stung by the sleepthorn of Wodan, and clad in full armor, lies asleep within acastle that is surrounded by a wall of flame. With the help ofhis steed Grani, Sigurd succeeds in penetrating through the fireto the castle. The sleeping maiden awakes when he cuts the armorfrom her with his sword, for it was as tight as if grown fast tothe flesh. She hails her deliverer with great joy, for she hadvowed never to marry a man who knew fear. At Sigurd's requestshe teaches him many wise precepts, and finally pledges her trothto him. He then departs, after promising to be faithful to herand to remember her teachings.

On his journeyings Sigurd soon arrives at the court of "Giuki"(the Norse form of the German "Gibicho", "Gibich"), a king whosecourt lay on the lower Rhine. Giuki has three sons, "Gunnar","Hogni", and "Guthorm", and a daughter "Gudrun", endowed withgreat beauty. The queen bears the name of Grimhild, and isversed in magic, but possessed of an evil heart. (4) Sigurd isreceived with great honor, for his coming had been announced toGudrun in dreams, which had in part been interpreted to her byBrynhild. The mother, knowing of Sigurd's relations to thelatter, gives him a potion which produces forgetfulness, so thathe no longer remembers his betrothed, and accepts the hand ofGudrun, which the king offers him at the queen's request. Themarriage is celebrated with great pomp, and Sigurd remainspermanently attached to Giuki's court, performing with the othersmany deeds of valor.

Meanwhile Grimhild urges her son Gunnar to sue for the hand ofBrynhild. Taking with him Sigurd and a few others, Gunnar visitsfirst Brynhild's father "Budli", and then her brother-in-law"Heimir", from both of whom he learns that she is free to choosewhom she will, but that she will marry no one who has not riddenthrough the wall of flame. With this answer they proceed toBrynhild's castle, where Gunnar is unable to pierce the flames,even when seated on Sigurd's steed. Finally Sigurd and Gunnarchange forms, and Sigurd, disguised as Gunnar, rides through thewall of fire, announces himself to Brynhild as Gunnar, the son ofGiuki, and reminds her of her promise to marry the one whopenetrated the fire. Brynhild consents with great reluctance,for she is busy carrying on a war with a neighboring king.Sigurd then passes three nights at her side, placing, however,his sword Gram between them, as a bar of separation. At partinghe draws from her finger the ring, with which he had originallypledged his troth to her, and replaces it with another, takenfrom Fafnir's hoard. Soon after this the marriage of Gunnar andBrynhild is celebrated with great splendor, and all return toGiuki's court, where they live happily for some time.

One day, however, when the ladies go down to the river to take abath, Brynhild will not bathe further down stream than Gudrun,that is, in the water which flows from Gudrun to her, (5) givingas the reason, that her father was mightier and her husbandbraver, since he had ridden through the fire, while Sigurd hadbeen a menial. Stung at this, Gudrun retorts that not Gunnar butSigurd had penetrated the flames and had taken from her thefateful ring "Andvaranaut", which she then shows to her rival inproof of her assertion. Brynhild turns deathly pale, but answersnot a word. After a second conversation on the subject hadincreased the hatred of the queens, Brynhild plans vengeance.Pretending to be ill, she takes to her bed, and when Gunnarinquires what ails her, she asks him if he remembers thecircumstances of the wooing and that not he but Sigurd hadpenetrated the flames. She attempts to take Gunnar's life, asshe had pledged her troth to Sigurd, and is thereupon placed inchains by Hogni. Seven days she sleeps, and no one dares to wakeher. Finally Sigurd succeeds in making her talk, and she tellshim how cruelly she has been deceived, that the better man hadbeen destined for her, but that she had received the poorer one.This Sigurd denies, for Giuki's son had killed the king of theDanes and also Budli's brother, a great warrior. Moreover,although he, Sigurd, had ridden through the flames, he had notbecome her husband. He begs her therefore not to harbor a grudgeagainst Gunnar.

Brynhild remains unconvinced, and plans Sigurd's death, andthreatens Gunnar with the loss of dominion and life, if he willnot kill Sigurd. After some hesitation, Gunnar consents, and,calling Hogni, informs him that he must kill Sigurd, in order toobtain the treasure of the Rhinegold. Hogni warns him againstbreaking his oath to Sigurd, when it occurs to Gunnar, that hisbrother Gutthorm had sworn no oath and might do the deed. Bothnow proceed to excite the latter's greed, and give him wolf's andsnake meat to eat to make him savage. Twice Gutthorm makes theattempt, as Sigurd lies in bed, but is deterred by the latter'spenetrating glance. The third time he finds Sigurd asleep, andpierces him with his sword. Sigurd, awakening at the pain, hurlshis own sword after his murderer, fairly cutting him in two. Hethen dies, protesting his innocence and designating Brynhild asthe instigator of his murder. Brynhild at first laughs aloud atGudrun's frantic grief, but later her joy turns into sorrow, andshe determines to share Sigurd's death. In vain they try todissuade her; donning her gold corselet, she pierces herself witha sword and begs to be burned on Sigurd's funeral pyre. In dyingshe prophesies the future, telling of Gudrun's marriage to "Atli"and of the death of the many men which will be caused thereby.

After Brynhild's death Gudrun in her sorrow flees to the court ofKing "Half" of Denmark, where she remains seven years. FinallyGrimhild learns of the place of her daughter's concealment, andtries to bring about a reconciliation with Gunnar and Hogni. They offer her much treasure, if she will marry Atli. At firstshe refuses and thinks only of revenge, but finally she consentsand the marriage is celebrated in Atli's land. After a timeAtli, who is envious of Gunnar's riches, for the latter had takenpossession of Sigurd's hoard, invites him to his court. A mannamed "Vingi", who was sent with the invitation, changes therunes of warning, which Gudrun had given him, so that they, too,read as an invitation. The brothers determine to accept theinvitation, and, though warned by many dreams, they set out forAtli's court, which they reach in due time. Vingi now breaksforth into exultations, that he has lured them into a snare, andis slain by Hogni with a battle axe.

As they ride to the king's hall, Atli and his sons arm themselvesfor battle, and demand Sigurd's treasure, which belongs by rightto Gudrun. Gunnar refuses to surrender it, and the fight begins,after some exchange of taunting words. Gudrun tries at first toreconcile the combatants, but, failing, arms herself and fightson the side of her brothers. The battle rages furiously withgreat loss on both sides, until nearly all of the Nibelungs arekilled, when Gunnar and Hogni are forced to yield to the power ofnumbers and are captured and bound. Gunnar is asked, if he willpurchase his life with the treasure. He replies that he firstwishes to see Hogni's bleeding heart. At first the heart of aslave is cut out and brought to him, but Gunnar recognizes it atonce as that of a coward. Then they cut out Hogni's heart, wholaughs at the pain. This Gunnar sees is the right one, and isjubilant, for now Atli shall never obtain the treasure, as Gunnaralone knows where it is hid. In a rage Atli orders Gunnar to bethrown to the snakes. Though his hands are bound, Gunnar playsso sweetly with his toes on the harp, which Gudrun has sent him,that all the snakes are lulled to sleep, with the exception of anadder, which stings him to the heart, so that he dies.

Atli now walks triumphantly over the dead bodies, and remarks toGudrun that she alone is to blame for what has happened. Sherefuses his offers of peace and reconciliation, and towardsevening kills her two sons "Erp" and "Eitil", and serves them atthe banquet, which the king gives for his retainers. When Atliasks for his sons, he is told that he had drunk their blood mixedwith wine and had eaten their hearts. That night when Atli isasleep, Gudrun takes Hogni's son "Hniflung", who desires toavenge his father, and together they enter Atli's room and thrusta sword through his breast. Atli awakes from the pain, only tobe told by Gudrun that she is his murderess. When he reproachesher with thus killing her husband, she answers that she caredonly for Sigurd. Atli now asks for a fitting burial, and onreceiving the promise of this, expires. Gudrun carries out herpromise, and burns the castle with Atli and all his dead retainers. Other Edda songs relate the further adventures ofGudrun, but they do not concern us here, as the "Nibelungenlied"stops with the death of the Nibelungs.

This in brief is the story of Siegfried, as it has been handeddown to us in the Skandinavian sources. It is universallyacknowledged that this version, though more original than theGorman tradition, does not represent the simplest and mostoriginal form of the tale; but what the original form was, haslong been and still is a matter of dispute. Two distinctlyopposite views are held, the one seeing in the story thepersonification of the forces of nature, the other, scouting thepossibility of a mythological interpretation, seeks a purelyhuman origin for the tale, namely, a quarrel among relatives forthe possession of treasure. The former view is the older, andobtained almost exclusively at one time. The latter has beengaining ground of recent years, and is held by many of theyounger students of the legend. According to the mythologicalview, the maiden slumbering upon the lonely heights is the sun,the wall of flames surrounding her the morning red("Morgenrote"). Siegfried is the youthful day who is destined torouse the sun from her slumber. At the appointed time heascends, and before his splendor the morning red disappears. Heawakens the maiden; radiantly the sun rises from its couch andjoyously greets the world of nature. But light and shade areindissolubly connected; day changes of itself into night. Whenat evening the sun sinks to rest and surrounds herself once morewith a wall of flames, the day again approaches, but no longer inthe youthful form of the morning to arouse her from her slumber,but in the sombre shape of Gunther, to rest at her side. Day hasturned into night; this is the meaning of the change of forms.The wall of flame vanishes, day and sun descend into the realm ofdarkness. Under this aspect the Siegfried story is a day myth;but under another it is a myth of the year. The dragon is thesymbol of winter, the dwarfs of darkness. Siegfried denotes thebright summer, his sword the sunbeams. The youthful year growsup in the dark days of winder. When its time has come, it goesforth triumphantly and destroys the darkness and the cold ofwinter. Through the symbolization the abstractions gain form andbecome persons; the saga is thus not a mere allegory, but a personification of nature's forces. The treasure may haveentered the saga through the widespread idea of the dragon as theguardian of treasure, or it may represent the beauty of naturewhich unfolds when the season has conquered. In the last act ofthe saga, Siegfried's death, Wilmanns, the best exponent of thisview, sees again a symbolic representation of a process ofnature. According to him it signifies the death of the god ofthe year in winter. In the spring he kills the dragon, in thewinter he goes weary to his rest and is foully slain by thehostile powers of darkness. Later, when this act was connectedwith the story of Gunther's wooing Brunhild, the real meaning wasforgotten, and Siegfried's death was attributed to the grief andjealousy of the insulted queen.

Opposed now to the mythological interpretation is the other viewalready spoken of, which denies the possibility of mythologicalfeatures, and does not seek to trace the legend beyond the heroicstage. The best exponent of this view is R. C. Boer, who hasmade a remarkable attempt to resolve the story into its simplestconstituents. According to him the nucleus of the legend is anold story of the murder of relatives ("Verwandienmord"), theoriginal form being perhaps as follows. Attila (i.e., the enemyof Hagen under any name)is married to Hagen's sister Grimhild orGudrun. He invites his brother-in-law to his house, attacks himin the hope of obtaining his treasure, and kills him. Accordingto this view Hagen was originally the king, but later sinks to asubordinate position through the subsequent connection of thestory with the Burgundians. It is of course useless to hunt forthe date of such an episode in history. Such a murder could havefrequently occurred, and can be localized anywhere. Very earlywe find this Hagen story united with the Siegfried legend. Ifthe latter is mythological, then we have a heterogeneouscombination, a mythical legend grafted on a purely human one.This Boer thinks unlikely, and presents a number of arguments todisprove the mythical character of the Siegfried story, intowhich we cannot enter here. He comes, however, to theconclusion, that the Siegfried tale is likewise purely human, andconsisted originally of the murder of relatives, that is, arepetition of the Hagen title. Siegfried is married to Hagen'ssister, and is killed by his brother-in-law because of histreasure. The kernel of the legend is, therefore, the enmitybetween relatives, which exists in two forms, the one in whichthe son-in-law kills his father-in-law, as in the "Helgi" saga,the other in which Hagen kills his son-in-law and is killed byhim, too, as in the "Hilde" saga. The German tradition tries tocombine the two by introducing the new feature, that Kriemhildcauses the death of her relatives, in order to avenge her firsthusband. Boer is of the opinion that both the Norse and theGerman versions have forgotten the original connection betweenthe two stories, and that this connection was nothing more norless than the common motive of the treasure. The same treasure,which causes Hagen to murder Siegfried, causes his own death inturn through the greed of Attila. There was originally,according to Boer, no question of revenge, except the revenge offate, the retribution which overtakes the criminal. This feelingfor the irony of fate was lost when the motive, that Hagen killsSiegfried because of his treasure, was replaced by the one thathe does it at the request of Brunhild. This leads Boer to theconclusion, that Brunhild did not originally belong to theSiegfried story, but to the well-known fairy tale of SleepingBeauty ("Erlosungsmurchen"), which occurs in a variety of forms.The type is that of a hero who rescues a maiden from a magiccharm, which may take the form of a deep sleep, as in the case ofSleeping Beauty, or of being sewed into a garment, as in No. 111of Grimm's fairy tales. By the union of the two stories, i.e.,the Hagen-Siegfried saga with the Sleeping Beauty tale, Siegfriedstands in relation to two women; on the one hand his relation toSigrdrifa-Brynhild, the maiden whom he rescues on the rock, onthe other his marriage with Grimhild-Gudrun and his consequentdeath. This twofold relation had to be disposed of, and sincehis connection with Grimhild was decisive for his fate, hisrelation to Brunhild had to be changed. It could not be entirelyignored, for it was too well known, therefore it was given adifferent interpretation. Siegfried still rescues a maiden fromthe rock, not for himself, however, but for another. Theexchange of forms on the part of Siegfried and Gunther is areminiscence of the older form. It gives the impression, thatSiegfried, and yet not Siegfried, won the bride. This alterationprobably took place when the Burgundians were introduced into thelegend. With this introduction an unlocalized saga of unknownheroes of ancient times became one of events of world-wideimportance; the fall of a mighty race was depicted as the resultof Siegfried's death. To render this plausible, it was necessaryon the one hand to idealize the hero, so that his death shouldappear as a deed of horror demanding fearful vengeance, and onthe other, to make the king of the Burgundians an activeparticipator in Siegfried's death, for otherwise it would notseem natural, that the whole race should be exterminated for acrime committed by the king's brother or vassal. As the role ofBrunhild's husband had become vacant, and as Gunther had nospecial role, it was natural that it should be given to him. Boer traces very ingeniously the gradual development of thisexchange of roles through the various sources.

Another method of explaining away Siegfried's relation to twowomen is to identify them, and this has been done by the Seyfridballad. Here the hero rescues Kriemhild from the power of thedragon, marries her, and then is later killed by her brothersthrough envy and hatred. As Brunhild and Kriemhild are hereunited in one person, there is no need of a wooing for the king,nor of vengeance on the part of Brunhild, accordingly the oldmotive of greed (here envy) reappears.

As to the fight with the dragon, Boer believes that it did notoriginally belong to the saga, for in none of the sources exceptthe popular ballad is the fight with the dragon connected withthe release of Brunhild. If the Siegfried-Hagen story is purelyhuman, then the dragon cannot have originally belonged to it, butwas later introduced, because of the widespread belief in thedragon as the guardian of treasure, and in order to answer thequestion as to the provenience of the hoard. This is, however,only one answer to the question. Another, widespread in Germanlegends, is that the treasure comes from the Nibelungs, that is,from the dwarfs. Many identify the dwarfs and the dragon, butthis finds no support in the sources, for here the dwarfs andFafnir are never confused. The "Nibelungenlied" describes anadventure with each, but the treasure is only connected with thedwarfs. The "Thidreksaga" knows only the dragon fight but notthe dwarfs, as is likewise the case with the Seyfrid ballad. Only in the Norse sources do we find a contamination. The storyof Hreithmar and his sons, who quarrel about the treasure,resembles that of Schilbung and Nibelung in the "Nibelungenlied",and probably has the same source. One of the sons, because ofhis guarding the treasure, is identified with the dragon, and sowe read that Fafnir becomes a dragon, after gaining the treasure.Originally, however, he was not a dragon, but a dwarf. These twoindependent forms can be geographically localized. The dwarflegend is the more southern; it is told in detail in the"Nibelungenlied". The dragon legend probably originated in theCimbrian peninsula, where the "Beowulf" saga, in which the dragonfight plays such an important part, likewise arose.

There thus stand sharply opposed to each other two theories, oneseeing in the Siegfried saga a personification of natural forces,the other tracing it back to a purely human story of murderthrough greed. It may be, that the true form of the originalsaga lies half way between these two views. The story of thefall of the Nibelungs, that is, their killing at Etzel's court,may go back to the tale of the murder of relatives for money. Onthe other hand it is hard to believe that the Siegfried saga isnothing but a repetition of the Attila motive, for this is toobrief a formula to which to reduce the long legend of Siegfried,with its many deeds. Even if we discard the mythologicalinterpretation, it is the tale of a daring hero, who is broughtup in the woods by a cunning dwarf. He kills a dragon and takespossession of his hoard, then rescues a maiden, imprisoned upon amountain, as in the older Norse version and the popular ballad,or in a tower, as in the "Thidreksaga", and surrounded either bya wall of fire, as in the Norse, or by a large body of water, asin the "Nibelungenlied". After betrothing himself to the maiden,he sets forth in search of further adventures, and falls into thepower of an evil race, who by their magic arts lure him to them,cause his destruction, and then obtain his treasure and themaiden for themselves. By her very name Sigrdrifa belongs toSiegfried, just as Gunther and Gudrun-Grimhild belong together,and it seems hardly possible that she should have entered thestory later, as Boer would have us believe. After all, it islargely a matter of belief, for it is impossible to provepositively that mythical elements did or did not exist in theoriginal.

To the combined Siegfried-Nibelung story various historicalelements were added during the fifth century. At the beginningof this period the Franks were located on the left bank of theRhine from Coblenz downward. Further up the river, that is, tothe south, the Burgundians had established a kingdom in what isnow the Rhenish Palatinate, their capital being Worms and theirking "Gundahar", or "Gundicarius", as the Romans called him. Fortwenty years the Burgundians lived on good terms with thesurrounding nations. Then, growing bolder, they suddenly roseagainst the Romans in the year 436, but the rebellion was quietlysuppressed by the Roman general Aetius. Though defeated, theBurgundians were not subdued, and the very next year they broketheir oaths and again sought to throw off the Roman yoke. Thistime the Romans called to their aid the hordes of Huns, who hadbeen growing rapidly in power and were already pressing hard uponthe German nations from the east. Only too glad for an excuse,the Huns poured into the land in great numbers and practicallyswept the Burgundian people from the face of the earth. According to the Roman historians, twenty thousand Burgundianswere slain in this great battle of the Catalaunian Fields.Naturally this catastrophe, in which a whole German nation fellbefore the hordes of invading barbarians, produced a profoundimpression upon the Teutonic world. The King Gundahar, theGunther of the "Nibelungenlied", who also fell in the battle,became the central figure of a new legend, namely, the story ofthe fall of the Burgundians.

Attila is not thought to have taken part in the invasion, still,after his death in 454, his name gradually came to be associatedwith the slaughter of the Burgundians, for a legend operatesmainly with types, and as Attila was a Hun and throughout theMiddle Ages was looked upon as the type of a cruel tyrant, greedyfor conquest, it was but natural for him to play the roleassigned to him in the legend. Quite plausible is Boer'sexplanation of the entrance of Attila into the legend. The"Thidreksaga" locates him in Seest in Westphalia. Now thisprovince once bore the haute of "Hunaland", and by a naturalconfusion, because of the similarity of the names, "Huna" and"Huns", Attila, who is the chief representative of Hunnish power,was connected with the legend and located at Seest. This wouldshow that the original extension of the legend was slight, asXanten, the home of Hagen, is but seventy miles from Seest. Theoriginal form would then be that Hagen was slain by a king of"Hunaland", then because history relates that the Burgundianswere slain by the Huns, the similarity of the names led to theintroduction of Attila and the identification of the Nibelungswith the Burgundians. The fact, too, that the Franks rapidlytook possession of the district depopulated by the crushingdefeat of the Burgundians likewise aided the confusion, and thusthe Franks became the natural heirs of the legend concerning thedeath of Gunther, and so we read of the fall of the Nibelungs, aname that is wholly Frankish in character. This identificationled also to Attila's being considered the avenger of Siegfried'sdeath. Poetic justice, however, demands that the slaughter ofthe Burgundians at the hands of Attila be also avenged. Therumor, that Attila's death was not natural, but that he had beenmurdered by his wife Ildico ("Hildiko"), gave the necessaryfeatures to round out the story. As Kriemhild was the sister ofthe Burgundian kings, it was but natural to explain her killingof Attila, as described in the Norse versions, by her desire toavenge her brothers.

In our "Nibelungenlied", however, it is no longer Attila, butKriemhild, who is the central figure of the tragedy. Etzel, ashe is called here, has sunk to the insignificant role of a stageking, a perfectly passive observer of the fight raging aroundhim. This change was brought about perhaps by the introductionof Dietrich of Berne, the most imposing figure of all Germanicheroic lore. The necessity of providing him with a rolecorresponding to his importance, coupled with a growingrepugnance on the part of the proud Franks to acknowledge defeatat the hands of the Huns, caused the person of Attila to dwindlein importance. Gradually, too, the role played by Kriemhild wastotally changed. Instead of being the avenger of her brothers,as depicted in the Norse versions, she herself becomes the causeof their destruction. Etzel is not only innocent of any desireto harm the Nibelungs, but is even ignorant of the revengeplanned by his wife. This change in her role was probably due tothe feeling that it was incumbent upon her to avenge the murderof Siegfried.

Our "Nibelungenlied" knows but little of the adventures ofSiegfried's youth as depicted in the Norse versions. The themeof the poem is no longer the love of Sigurd, the homelesswanderer, for the majestic Valkyrie Brunhild, but the love idyllof Siegfried, the son of the king of the Netherlands, and thedainty Burgundian princess Kriemhild. The poem has forgottenSiegfried's connection with Brunhild; it knows nothing of hispenetrating the wall of flames to awake and rescue her, nothingof the betrothal of the two. In our poem Siegfried is carefullyreared at his father's court in the Netherlands, and sets outwith great pomp for the court of the Burgundians. In the Norseversion he naturally remains at Gunther's court after hismarriage, but in our poem he returns to the Netherlands with hisbride. This necessitates the introduction of several new scenesto depict his arrival home, the invitation to the feast at Worms,and the reception of the guests on the part of the Burgundians.

In the "Nibelungenlied" the athletic sports, as an obstacle tothe winning of Brunhild, take the place of the wall of flames ofthe older Norse versions. Siegfried and Gunther no longer changeforms, but Siegfried dons the "Tarnkappe", which renders himinvisible, so that while Gunther makes the motions, Siegfriedreally does the work, a thing which is rather difficult toimagine. The quarrel of the two queens is likewise verydifferently depicted in the "Nibelungenlied" from what it is inthe Norse version. In the latter it takes place while the ladiesare bathing in the river, and is brought on by the arrogance ofBrunhild, who refuses to stand lower down the stream and bathe inthe water flowing from Gudrun to her. In the "Thidreksaga" itoccurs in the seclusion of the ladies' apartments, but in ourpoem it culminates in front of the cathedral before the assembledcourt, and requires as its background all the pomp and splendorof medieval chivalry. With a master hand and a wonderfulknowledge of female character, the author depicts the gradualprogress of the quarrel until it terminates in a magnificentscene of wounded pride and malignant hatred. Kriemhild, asusual, plays the more important part, and, while standing up forher rights, tries in every way to conciliate Brunhild and not tohurt her feelings. At last, however, stung by the taunts of thelatter, she in turn loses her patience, bursts out with the wholestory of the twofold deception to which Brunhild has beensubjected, and then triumphantly sweeps into the church, leavingher rival stunned and humiliated by the news she has heard. Inthe Norse tradition the scene serves merely to enlighten Brunhildas to the deception played upon her. In the "Nibelungenlied" itbecomes the real cause of Siegfried's death, for Brunhild plansto kill Siegfried to avenge the public slight done to her. Shehas no other reason, as Siegfried swears that there had been nodeception. Brunhild appeals to us much less in the"Nibelungenlied" than in the Norse version. In the latter shefeels herself deeply wronged by Siegfried's faithlessness, andresolves on his death because she will not be the wife of twomen. In our poem she has no reason for wishing his death excepther wounded pride. In the "Nibelungenlied", too, she disappearsfrom view after Siegfried's death, whereas in the Norse traditionshe ascends his funeral pyre and dies at his side.

The circumstances of Siegfried's death are likewise totallydifferent in the two versions. In the Norse, as we have seen, heis murdered while asleep in bed, by Gunnar's younger brotherGutthorm. In our poem he is killed by Hagen, while bending overa spring to drink. This is preceded by a scene in which Hagentreacherously induces Kriemhild to mark the one vulnerable spoton Siegfried's body, on the plea of protecting him. This deepensthe tragedy, and renders Kriemhild's misery and self-reproachesthe greater. After Siegfried's burial his father, who had alsocome to Worms with his son, vainly endeavors to persuadeKriemhild to return with him to the Netherlands. Her refusal isunnatural in the extreme, for she had reigned there ten years ormore with Siegfried, and had left her little son behind, and yetshe relinquishes all this and remains with her brothers, whom sheknows to be the murderers of her husband. This is evidently areminiscence of an earlier form in which Siegfried was a homelessadventurer, as in the "Thidreksaga".

The second half of the tale, the destruction of the Nibelungs, istreated of very briefly in the early Norse versions, but the"Nibelungenlied", which knows so little of Siegfried's youth, hasdeveloped and enlarged upon the story, until it overshadows thefirst part in length and importance and gives the name to thewhole poem. The main difference between the two versions is thatin the older Norse tradition it is Attila who invites theNibelungs to his court and attacks them in order to gainpossession of the treasure, while Gudrun (Kriemhild) first triesto reconcile the warring parties, and, not succeeding in this,snatches up a sword and fights on the side of her brothers andlater kills her husband as an act of revenge. In the"Thidreksaga" and the "Nibelungenlied", however, she is theinstigator of the fight and the cause of her brothers' death, andfinally suffers death herself at the hands of Master Hildebrand,who is furious that such noble heroes should fall at a woman'shand. The second part of the poem is grewsome reading at best,with its weltering corpses and torrents of blood. The horror isrelieved only by the grim humor of Hagen and by the charmingscene at Rudeger's court, where the young prince Giselher isbetrothed to Rudeger's daughter. Rudeger is without doubt themost tragic figure of this part. He is bound on the one hand byhis oath of allegiance to Kriemhild and on the other by ties offriendship to the Burgundians. His agony of mind at the dilemmain which Kriemhild's command to attack the Burgundians places himis pitiful. Divided between love and duty, the conviction thathe must fulfill his vow, cost what it may, gradually forcesitself upon him and he rushes to his death in combat with hisdearest friends.

Towering above all others in its gloomy grandeur stands thefigure of Hagen, the real hero of the second half of the poem.Fully aware that he is going to his death, he nevertheless scornsto desert his companions-in-arms, and awaits the fate in storefor him with a stoicism that would do honor to a Spartan. Hecalmly accepts the consequences of his crime, and to the lastmocks and scoffs at Kriemhild, until her fury knows no bounds. No character shows so little the refining influences ofChristianity as does his. In all essential respects he is stillthe same old gigantic Teuton, who meets us in the earliest formsof the legend.

As to the various minor characters, many of which appear only inthe "Nibelungenlied", space will not permit of their discussionhere, although they will be treated of briefly in the notes.Suffice it to say, that the "Nibelungenlied" has introduced anumber of effective scenes for the purpose of bringing some ofthem, especially Folker and Dankwart, into prominence. Among thebest of these are, first, the night watch, when Folker firstplays the Burgundians to sleep with his violin, and then standsguard with Hagen, thus preventing the surprise planned byKriemhild; further, the visit to the church on the followingmorning, when the men of both parties clash; and lastly thetournament between the Huns and the Burgundians, which gives theauthor an excellent chance to show the prowess of the variousheroes.

Let us pass now to the consideration of the strophic form of the"Nibelungenlied". The two Danish ballads of "Grimhild's Revenge"("Grimhild's Haevn"), which are based upon the first combinationof the Low German, i.e., Saxon, and the Rhenish traditions, provethat the strophe is considerably older than the preservedredactions of our poem, and that it was probably of Saxon origin.The metrical form goes back most probably to the four-accentedverse of the poet Otfrid of the ninth century, although some havethought that Latin hymns, others that the French epic verse, mayhave been of influence. The direct derivation from Otfrid seems,however, the most plausible, as it accounts for the importance ofthe caesura, which generally marks a pause in the sense, as wellas in the verse, and also for its masculine ending. The"Nibelungen" strophe consists of four long lines separated by acaesura into two distinct halves. The first half of each linecontains four accents, the fourth falling upon the last syllable.This last stress, however, is not, as a rule as strong as theothers, the effect being somewhat like that of a feminine ending.On this account some speak of three accents in the first halfline, with a feminine ending. The fourth stress is, however, toostrong to be thus disregarded, but because of its lightercharacter is best marked with a grave accent. The second half ofeach line ends in a masculine rhyme. The first three lines haveeach three stresses in the second half, while the second half ofthe fourth line has four accents to mark the end of the strophe.This longer fourth line is one of the most marked characteristicsof the "Nibelungen" strophe. The rhymes are arranged in theorder of "a", "a", "b", "b", though in a few isolated cases neartheend of the poem but one rhyme is used throughout the strophe.

The opening lines of the poem may serve to illustrate thestrophic form and scansion, and at the same time will give thereader an idea of the Middle High German language in which thepoem is written:

Some of the final rhymes with proper names, such as "Hagene" :"degene" (str. 84) or "Hagene" : "tragene" (str. 300) appear tobe feminine, but it is really the final "e" that rhymes, and ascansion of the line in question shows that the three accents arenot complete without this final "e". In this respect our poemdiffers from most of the Middle High German poems, as thispractice of using the final "e" in rhyme began to die out in thetwelfth century, though occasionally found throughout the period.The rhymes are, as a rule, quite exact, the few cases of impurerhymes being mainly those in which short and long vowels arerhymed together, e.g. "mich" : "rich" or "man" : "han". Caesuralrhymes are frequently met with, and were considered by Lachmannto be the marks of interpolated strophes, a view no longer held.A further peculiarity of the "Nibelungen" strophe is the frequentomission of the unaccented syllable in the second half of thelast line of the strophe between the second and third stresses.Examples of this will be found in the second, third, and fifthstrophes of the passage given above.

The language of the "Nibelungenlied" is the so-called Middle HighGerman, that is, the High German written and spoken in the periodbetween 1100 and 1500, the language of the great romances ofchivalry and of the "Minnesingers". More exactly, the poem iswritten in the Austrian dialect of the close of the twelfthcentury, but contains many archaisms, which point to the fact ofits having undergone a number of revisions.

In closing this brief study of the "Nibelungenlied", just a wordor two further with reference to the poem, its character, and itsplace in German literature. Its theme is the ancient Teutonicideal of "Treue" (faithfulness or fidelity), which has found hereits most magnificent portrayal; faithfulness unto death, theloyalty of the vassal for his lord, as depicted in Hagen, thefidelity of the wife for her husband, as shown by Kriemhild,carried out with unhesitating consistency to the bitter end. This is not the gallantry of medieval chivalry, which colors solargely the opening scenes of the poem, but the heroic valor, thedeath-despising stoicism of the ancient Germans, before which themasters of the world, the all-conquering Romans, were compelledto bow.

In so far as the "Nibelungenlied" has forgotten most of thehistory of the youthful Siegfried, and knows nothing of his lovefor Brunhild, it is a torso, but so grand withal, that one hardlyregrets the loss of these integral elements of the old saga. Asit is a working over of originally separate lays, it is notentirely homogeneous, and contains not a few contradictions. Inspite of these faults, however, which a close study reveals, itis nevertheless the grandest product of Middle High German epicpoetry, and deservedly the most popular poem of older Germanliterature. It lacks, to be sure, the grace of diction found inGottfried von Strassburg's "Tristan und Isolde", the detailed andoften magnificent descriptions of armor and dress to be met within the epics of Hartman von Ouwe; it is wanting in the loftyphilosophy of Wolfram von Eschenbach's "Parzival", and does not,as this latter, lead the reader into the realms of religiousdoubts and struggles. It is imposing through its verysimplicity, through the grandeur of the story, which it does notseek to adorn and decorate. It nowhere pauses to analyze motivesnor to give us a picture of inner conflict as modern authors arefond of doing. Its characters are impulsive and prompt inaction, and when they have once acted, waste no time in uselessregret or remorse.

It resembles the older "Spielmannsdichtung", or minstrel poetry,in the terseness and vigor of its language and in the lack ofpoetic imagery, but it is free from the coarseness and vulgar andgrotesque humor of the latter. It approaches the courtly epic inits introduction of the pomp of courtly ceremonial, but thisveneer of chivalry is very thin, and beneath the outward polishof form the heart beats as passionately and wildly as in the daysof Herman, the Cheruscan chief. There are perhaps greater poemsin literature than the "Nibelungenlied", but few so majestic inconception, so sublime in their tragedy, so simple in theirexecution, and so national in their character, as this greatpopular epic of German literature.

ENDNOTES:(1) A is a parchment MS. of the second half of the thirteenth century, now found in Munich. It forms the basis of Lachmann's edition. It is a parchment MS. of the middle of the thirteenth century, belonging to the monastery of St. Gall. It has been edited by Bartsch, "Deutsche Klassiker des Mittelalters", vol. 3, and by Piper, "Deutsche National- Literatur", vol. 6. C is a parchment MS., of the thirteenth century, now in the ducal library of Donauesehingen. It is the best written of all the MSS., and has been edited by Zarncke.(2) The "Thidreksaga" differs from the other Norse versions in having "Sigfrod", as he is called here, brought up in ignorance of his parents, a trait which was probably borrowed from the widespread "Genoveva" story, although thought by some to have been an original feature of our legend.(3) The "Thidreksaga", which has forgotten the enmity of the brothers, and calls Sigurd's tutor "Mimr", tells the episode in somewhat different fashion. The brothers plan to kill Sigurd, and the latter is attacked by the dragon, while burning charcoal in the forest. After killing the monster with a firebrand, Sigurd bathes himself in the blood and thus become covered with a horny skin, which renders him invulnerable, save in one place between the shoulder blades, which he could not reach. This bathing in the blood is also related in the Seyfrid ballad and in the "Nibelungenlied", with the difference, that the vulnerable spot is caused by a linden leaf falling upon him.(4) The fact that all but one of these names alliterate, shows that the Norse version is here more original. Gunnar is the same as Gunther (Gundaharius), Hogni as Hagen; Gutthorm (Godomar) appears in the German version as Gernot. In this latter the father is called Danerat, the mother Uote, and the name Grimhild is transferred from the mother to the daughter.(5) In the prose "Edda", in the water which drips from Gudrun's hair.

THE NIBELUNGENLIED (1)

ADVENTURE I (2)

Full many a wonder is told us in stories old, of heroes worthy ofpraise, of hardships dire, of joy and feasting, of the fightingof bold warriors, of weeping and of wailing; now ye may hearwonders told.

In Burgundy there grew so noble a maid that in all the lands nonefairer might there be. Kriemhild (3) was she called; a comelywoman she became, for whose sake many a knight must needs losehis life. Well worth the loving was this winsome maid. Boldknights strove for her, none bare her hate. Her peerless bodywas beautiful beyond degree; the courtly virtues of this maid ofnoble birth would have adorned many another woman too.

Three kings, noble and puissant, did nurture her, Gunther (4) andGernot, (5) warriors worthy of praise, and Giselher, (6) theyouth, a chosen knight. This lady was their sister, the princeshad her in their care. The lordings were free in giving, of racehigh-born, passing bold of strength were they, these chosenknights. Their realm hight Burgundy. Great marvels they wroughthereafter in Etzel's (7) land. At Worms (8) upon the Rhine theydwelt with all their power. Proud knights from out their landsserved them with honor, until their end was come. Thereafterthey died grievously, through the hate of two noble dames.

Their mother, a mighty queen, was called the Lady Uta, (9) theirfather, Dankrat, (10) who left them the heritage after his lifewas over; a mighty man of valor that he was, who won thereto inyouth worship full great. These kings, as I have said, were ofhigh prowess. To them owed allegiance the best of warriors, ofwhom tales were ever told, strong and brave, fearless in thesharp strife. Hagen (11) there was of Troneg, thereto hisbrother Dankwart, (12) the doughty; Ortwin of Metz (13); Gere(14) and Eckewart, (15) the margraves twain; Folker of Alzei,(16) endued with fullness of strength. Rumolt (17) was master ofthe kitchen, a chosen knight; the lords Sindolt and Hunolt,liegemen of these three kings, had rule of the court and of itshonors. Thereto had they many a warrior whose name I cannottell. Dankwart was marshal; his nephew, Ortwin, seneschal untothe king; Sindolt was cupbearer, a chosen knight; Hunolt servedas chamberlain; well they wot how to fill these lofty stations. Of the forces of the court and its far-reaching might, of thehigh worship (18) and of the chivalry these lords did ply withjoy throughout their life, of this forsooth none might relate toyou the end.

In the midst of these high honors Kriemhild dreamed a dream, ofhow she trained a falcon, strong, fair, and wild, which, beforeher very eyes, two eagles rent to pieces. No greater sorrowmight chance to her in all this world. This dream then she toldto Uta her mother, who could not unfold it to the dutiful maid inbetter wise than this: "The falcon which thou trainest, that is anoble man, but thou must needs lose him soon, unless so be thatGod preserve him."

"Why speakest thou to me of men, dear brother mine? I would fainever be without a warrior's love. So fair will I remain until mydeath, that I shall never gain woe from love of man."

"Now forswear this not too roundly," spake the mother in reply."If ever thou shalt wax glad of heart in this world, that willchance through the love of man. Passing fair wilt thou become,if God grant thee a right worthy knight."

"I pray you leave this speech," spake she, "my lady. Full ofthath it been seen in many a wife, how joy may at last end insorrow. I shall avoid them both, then can it ne'er go ill withme."

Thus in her heart Kriemhild forsware all love. Many a happy daythereafter the maiden lived without that she wist any whom shewould care to love. In after days she became with worship avaliant here's bride. He was the selfsame falcon which shebeheld in her dream that her mother unfolded to her. How sorelydid she avenge this upon her nearest kin, who slew him after!Through his dying alone there fell full many a mother's son.

ENDNOTES:(1) "Nibelungenlied", the lay of the Nibelungs. The ordinary etymology of this name is 'children of the mist' ("Nebelkinder", O.N. "Niflungar"), and it is thought to have belonged originally to the dwarfs. Piper, I, 50, interprets it as 'the sons of Nibul'; Boer, II, 198, considers "Hniflungar" to be the correct Norse form and interprets it as 'the descendants of Hnaef' (O.E. "Hnaef", O.H.G. "Hnabi"), whose death is related in the "Finnsaga".(2) "Adventure" (M.H.G. "aventiure", from O.F. "aventure", Lat. "adventura"). The word meant originally a happening, especially some great event, then the report of such an event. Here it is used in the sense of the different cantos or "fitts" of the poem, as in the "Gudrun" and other M.H.G. epics. Among the courtly poets it also frequently denotes the source, or is the personification of the muse of poetry.(3) "Kriemhild" is the Upper German form of the Frankish "Grimhild". In the MSS., the name generally appears with a further shifting as "Chriemhilt", as if the initial consonant were Germanic "k". On the various forms of the name, which have never yet been satisfactorily explained, see Mullenhoff, ZsfdA. xii, 299, 413; xv, 313; and Bohnenberger, PB. Beit. xxiv, 221-231.(4) "Gunther" is the historical "Gundahari", king of the Burgundians in the fifth century.(5) "Gernot" was probably introduced by some minstrel in place of the historical "Godomar", who appears in the Norse version as "Gutthormr", though the names are not etymologically the same, as "Godomar" would be "Guthmarr" in Old Norse.(6) "Giselher" is the historical "Gislaharius". Although mentioned by the "Lex Burgundionum" as one of the Burgundian kings, he does not appear in the early Norse version, or in other poems dealing with these persons, such as the "Waltharius", the "Rabenschlacht", the "Rosengarten", etc., and was probably introduced at a late date into the saga. Originally no role was ascribed to him, and not even his death is told. He probably came from some independent source.(7) "Etzel" is the German form for the historical "Attila" (Norse "Atli"). A discussion of his connection with the saga will be found in the introduction.(8) "Worms" is the ancient "Borbetomagus", which in the first century B.C. was the chief city of the German tribe of the "Vangioni". In the fifth century it was the capital of the Burgundian kingdom, but was destroyed by the Huns. The Merovingians rebuilt it, and in the seventh century it became a bishopric where Charlemagne at times held his court. It was later noted as the meeting-place of many imperial diets. It remained a free city till 1801. In the "Thidreksaga" the name is corrupted into "Wernize".(9) "Uta" (M.H.G. "Uote"). The name means ancestress, and is frequently used for the mother of heroes. The modern German form is "Ute", but in order to insure its being pronounced with two syllables, the form "Uta" was chosen.(10) "Dankrat" (M.H.G. "Dancrat") appears as the father only in the "Nibelungenlied" and poems dependent on it, e.g., the "Klage" and "Biterolf", elsewhere as "Gibiche" (Norse "Giuki").(11) "Hagen of Troneg". Troneg is probably a corruption of the name of the Latin colony, "colonia Trajana", on the Lower Rhine, which as early as the fifth century was written as "Troja", giving rise to the legend that the Franks were descended from the ancient Trojans. "Troja" was then further corrupted to "Tronje" and "Tronege". Hagen was therefore originally a Frank and had no connection with the Burgundian kings, as the lack of alliteration also goes to show. Boer thinks that not Siegfried but Hagen originally lived at Xanten (see note 3 to Adventure II), as this was often called Troja Francorum. When the Hagen story was connected with the Burgundians and Hagen became either their brother or their vassal, his home was transferred to Worms and Siegfried was located at Xanten, as he had no especial localization. Thus Siegfried is never called Siegfried of Troneg, as is Hagen. Other attempts to explain Troneg will be found in Piper, I, 48.(12) "Dankwart" is not an historical character nor one that belonged to the early form of the legend. He may have come from another saga, where he played the principal role as Droege (ZsfdA. 48, 499) thinks. Boer considers him to be Hagen's double, invented to play a part that would naturally fall to Hagen's share, were he not otherwise engaged at the moment. In our poem he is called "Dancwart der snelle", a word that has proved a stumbling-block to translators, because in modern German it means 'speedy', 'swift'. Its original meaning was, however, 'brave', 'warlike', although the later meaning is already found in M.H.G. In all such doubtful cases the older meaning has been preferred, unless the context forbids, and the word 'doughty' has been chosen to translate it.(13) "Ortwin of Metz" appears also in the "Eckenlied", "Waltharius", and in "Biterolf". He is most likely a late introduction (but see Piper, I, 44). Rieger thinks that he belonged to a wealthy family "De Metis". Though the "i" is long in the original, and Simrock uses the form "Ortewein" in his translation, the spelling with short "i" has been chosen, as the lack of accent tends to shorten the vowel in such names.(14) "Gere" is likewise a late introduction. He is perhaps the historical Margrave Gere (965) of East Saxony, whom Otto the Great appointed as a leader against the Slavs. See O. von Heinemann, "Markgraf Gero", Braunschweig, 1860, and Piper, L 43.(15) "Eckewart" is also a late accession. He is perhaps the historical margrave of Meissen (1002), the first of the name. He, too, won fame in battle against the Slavs.(16) "Folker of Alzet" (M.H.G. "Volker von Alzeije"), the knightly minstrel, is hardly an historical personage, in spite of the fact that Alzey is a well-known town in Rhine Hesse on the Selz, eighteen miles southwest of Mainz. The town has, to be sure, a violin in its coat of arms, as also the noble family of the same name. It is most likely, however, that this fact caused Folker to be connected with Alzei. In the "Thidreksaga" Folker did not play the role of minstrel, and it is probable that some minstrel reviser of our poem developed the character and made it the personification of himself.(17) "Rumolt", "Bindolt", and "Hunolt" have no historical basis and merely help to swell the retinue of the Burgundians.(18) "Worship". This word has been frequently used here in its older meaning of 'worth', 'reverence', 'respect', to translate the M.H.G. "eren", 'honors'.

ADVENTURE IIOf Siegfried.

In the Netherlands there grew the child of a noble king (hisfather had for name Siegemund, (1) his mother Siegelind), (2) ina mighty castle, known far and wide, in the lowlands of theRhine: Xanten, (3) men called it. Of this hero I sing, how fairhe grew. Free he was of every blemish. Strong and famous helater became, this valiant man. Ho! What great worship he wonin this world! Siegfried hight this good and doughty knight. Full many kingdoms did he put to the test through his warlikemood. Through his strength of body he rode into many lands. Ho! What bold warriors he after found in the Burgundian land! Micklewonders might one tell of Siegfried in his prime, in youthfuldays; what honors he received and how fair of body he. The moststately women held him in their love; with the zeal which was hisdue men trained him. But of himself what virtues he attained! Truly his father's lands were honored, that he was found in allthings of such right lordly mind. Now was he become of the agethat he might ride to court. Gladly the people saw him, many amaid wished that his desire might ever bear him hither. Enowgazed on him with favor; of this the prince was well aware. Fullseldom was the youth allowed to ride without a guard of knights. Siegmund and Siegelind bade deck him out in brave attire. Theolder knights who were acquaint with courtly custom, had him intheir care. Well therefore might he win both folk and land.

Now he was of the strength that he bare weapons well. Whateverhe needed thereto, of this he had enow. With purpose he began towoo fair ladies; these bold Siegfried courted well in properwise. Then bade Siegmund have cried to all his men, that hewould hold a feasting with his loving kindred. The tidingsthereof men brought into the lands of other kings. To thestrangers and the home-folk he gave steeds and armor. Wheresoever any was found who, because of his birth, shouldbecome a knight, these noble youths were summoned to the land forthe feasting. Here with the youthful prince they gained theknightly sword. Wonders might one tell of this great feast;Siegmund and Siegelind wist well how to gain great worship withtheir gifts, of which their hands dealt out great store. Wherefore one beheld many strangers riding to their realm. Fourhundred sword-thanes (4) were to put on knightly garb withSiegfried. Many a fair maid was aught but idle with the work,for he was beloved of them all. Many precious stones the ladiesinlaid on the gold, which together with the edging they wouldwork upon the dress of the proud young warriors, for this mustneeds be done.

The host bade make benches for the many valiant men, for themidsummer festival, (5) at which Siegfried should gain the nameof knight. Then full many a noble knight and many a high-bornsquire did hie them to the minster. Right were the elders inthat they served the young, as had been done to them afore.Pastimes they had and hope of much good cheer. To the honor ofGod a mass was sung; then there rose from the people full great apress, as the youths were made knights in courtly wise, with suchgreat honors as might not ever lightly be again. Then they ranto where they found saddled many a steed. In Siegmund's courtthe hurtling (6) waxed so fierce that both palace (7) and hallwere heard to ring; the high-mettled warriors clashed with mightysound. From young and old one heard many a shock, so that thesplintering of the shafts reechoed to the clouds. Truncheons (8)were seen flying out before the palace from the hand of many aknight. This was done with zeal. At length the host bade ceasethe tourney and the steeds were led away. Upon the turf one sawall to-shivered (9) many a mighty buckler and great store ofprecious stones from the bright spangles (10) of the shields. Through the hurtling this did hap.

Then the guests of the host betook them to where men bade themsit. With good cheer they refreshed them and with the very bestof wine, of which one bare frill plenty. To the strangers andthe home-folk was shown worship enow. Though much pastime theyhad throughout the day, many of the strolling folk forsware allrest. They served for the largess, which men found there richly,whereby Siegmund's whole land was decked with praise. Then badethe king enfeoff Siegfried, the youth, with land and castles, ashe himself had done. Much his hand bestowed upon the sword-companions. The journey liked them well, that to this land theywere come. The feasting lasted until the seventh day. Siegelind, the noble queen, for the love of her son, dealt outruddy gold in time-honored wise. Full well she wot how to makehim beloved of the folk. Scarce could a poor man be found amongthe strolling mimes. Steeds and raiment were scattered by theirhand, as if they were to live not one more day. I trow thatnever did serving folk use such great bounty. With worshipfulhonors the company departed hence. Of the mighty barons the taledoth tell that they desired the youth unto their lord, but ofthis the stately knight, Sir Siegfried, listed naught. Forasmuchas both Siegmund and Siegelind were still alive, the dear childof them twain wished not to wear a crown, but fain would hebecome a lord against all the deeds of force within his lands,whereof the bold and daring knight was sore adread.

ENDNOTES:(1) "Siegmund" (M.H.G. "Sigemunt") was originally the hero of an independent saga. See "Volsungasaga", chaps. 3-8.(2) "Siegelind" (M.H.G. "Sigelint") is the correct name of Siegfried's mother, as the alliteration shows. The Early Norse version has "Hjordis", which has come from the "Helgi saga".(3) "Xanten" (M.H.G. "Santen" from the Latin "ad sanctos") is at present a town in the Rhenish Prussian district of Dusseldorf. It does not now lie on the Rhine, but did in the Middle Ages.(4) "Sword-thanes" (M.H.G. "swertdegene") were the young squires who were to be made knights. It was the custom for a youthful prince to receive the accolade with a number of others.(5) "Midsummer festival". The M.H.G. "sunewende" means literally the 'sun's turning', i.e., the summer solstice. This was one of the great Germanic festivals, which the church later turned into St. John's Eve. The bonfires still burnt in Germany on this day are survivals of the old heathen custom.(6) "Hurtling" translates here M.H.G. "buhurt", a word borrowed from the French to denote a knightly sport in which many knights clashed together. Hurtling was used in older English in the same significance.(7) "Palace" (M.H.G. "palas", Lat. "palatium") is a large building standing alone and largely used as a reception hall.(8) "Truncheons" (M.H.G. "trunzune", O.F. "troncon", 'lance splinters', 'fragments of spears'.(9) "To-shivered", 'broken to pieces', in imitation of the older English to-beat, to-break, etc.(10) "Spangles" (M.H.G. "spangen"), strips of metal radiating from the raised centre of the shield and often set, as here, with precious stones.

ADVENTURE IIIHow Siegfried Came to Worms.

It was seldom that sorrow of heart perturbed the prince. Heheard tales told of how there lived in Burgundy a comely maid,fashioned wondrous fair, from whom he thereafter gained much ofjoy, but suffering, too. Her beauty out of measure was known farand wide. So many a here heard of her noble mind, that it alonebrought many a guest (1) to Gunther's land. But however manywere seen wooing for her love, Kriemhild never confessed withinher heart that she listed any for a lover. He was still astranger to her, whose rule she later owned. Then did the son ofSiegelind aspire to lofty love; the wooing of all others was tohis but as the wind, for well he wot how to gain a lady fair. Inlater days the noble Kriemhild became bold Siegfried's bride.Kinsmen and liegemen enow advised him, since he would have hopeof constant love, that he woo one who was his peer. At this boldSiegfried spake: "Then will I choose Kriemhild, the fair maid ofBurgundy, for her beauty beyond measure. This I know full well,never was emperor so mighty, and he would have a wife, that itwould not beseem him to love this noble queen."

Tidings of this reached Siegmund's ear; through the talk of thecourtiers he was made ware of the wish of his son. Full loth itwas to the king, that his child would woo the glorious maid.Siegelind heard it too, the wife of the noble king. Greatly shefeared for her child, for full well she knew Gunther and his men.Therefore they sought to turn the hero from this venture. Upspake then the daring Siegfried: "Dear father mine, I would fainever be without the love of noble dames, if I may not woo her inwhom my heart hath great delight; whatsoever any may aver, itwill avail but naught."

"And thou wilt not turn back," spake the king, "then am I insooth glad of thy will and will help thee bring it to pass, asbest I may. Yet hath this King Gunther full many a haughty man.If there were none else but Hagen, the doughty knight, he can usesuch arrogance that I fear me it will repent us sore, if we woothis high-born maid."

Then Siegfried made reply: "Wherefore need that hinder us? WhatI may not obtain from them in friendly wise, that my hand and itsstrength can gain. I trow that 1 can wrest from him both folkand land."

To this Prince Siegmund replied: "Thy speech liketh me not, forif this tale were told upon the Rhine, then durst thou never rideunto that land. Long time have Gunther and Gernot been known tome. By force may none win the maid, of this have I been wellassured; but wilt thou ride with warriors unto this land, and westill have aught of friends, they shall be summoned soon."

"It is not to my mind," spake again Siegfried, "that warriorsshould follow me to the Rhine, as if for battle, that I constrainthereby the noble maid. My single hand can win her well -- witheleven (2) comrades I will fare to Gunther's land; thereto shaltthou help me, Father Siegmund." Then to his knights they gavefor garments furs both gray and vair. (3)

Now his mother Siegelind also heard the tale. She began to makedole for her loved child, whom she feared to lose throughGunther's men. Sorely the noble queen gan weep. Lord Siegfriedhied him straightway to where he saw her; to his mother he spakein gentle wise: "Lady, ye must not weep for me; naught have I tofear from all his fighting men. I pray you, speed me on myjourney to the Burgundian land, that I and my warriors may havearray such as proud heroes can wear with honor; for this I willsay you gramercy i' faith."

"Since naught will turn thee," spake then the Lady Siegelind, "sowill I speed thee on thy journey, mine only child, with the bestof weeds that ever knight did wear, thee and thy comrades. Yeshall have enow."

Siegfried, the youth, then made low obeisance to the queen. Hespake: "None but twelve warriors will I have upon the way. Letraiment be made ready for them, I pray, for I would fain see howit standeth with Kriemhild."

Then sate fair ladies night and day. Few enow of them, I trow,did ease them, till Siegfried's weeds had all been wrought. Norwould he desist from faring forth. His father bade adorn theknightly garb in which his son should ride forth from Siegmund'sland. The shining breastplates, too, were put in trim, also thestanch helmets and their shields both fair and broad. Now theirjourney to the Burgundian land drew near; man and wife began tofear lest they never should come home again. The heroes badelade their sumpters with weapons and with harness. Their steedswere fair and their trappings red with gold. No need were thereto live more proudly than Siegfried and his men. Then he askedfor leave to journey to the land of Burgundy; this the king andqueen sorrowfully vouchsafed. Lovingly he comforted them twain."For my sake," spake he, "must ye not weep, nor have fear for meor for my life."

The warriors, too, were sad and many a maiden wept; I ween, theirhearts did tell them rightly that many of their kinsmen wouldcome to death because of this. Just cause had they for wailing;need enow they had in sooth.

Upon the seventh morning, forth upon the river sand at Worms thebrave warriors pricked. Their armor was of ruddy gold and theirtrappings fashioned fair. Smoothly trotted the steeds of boldSiegfried's men. Their shields were new; gleaming and broad andfair their helmets, as Siegfried, the bold, rode to court inGunther's land. Never had such princely attire been seen onheroes; their sword-points hung down to their spurs. Sharpjavelins were borne by these chosen knights. Siegfried wieldedone full two spans broad, which upon its edges cut mostdangerously. In their hands they held gold-colored bridles;their martingales were silken: so they came into the land.Everywhere the folk began to gape amazed and many of Gunther'smen fared forth to meet them. High-mettled warriors, both knightand squire, betook them to the lords (as was but right), andreceived into the land of their lords these guests and took fromtheir hands the black sumpters which bore the shields. Thesteeds, too, they wished to lead away for easement. How boldlythen brave Siegfried spake: "Let stand the mounts of me and of mymen. We will soon hence again, of this have I great desire.Whosoever knoweth rightly where I can find the king, Gunther, themighty, of Burgundian land, let him not keep his peace but tellme."

Then up spake one to whom it was rightly known: "Would ye findthe king, that can hap full well. In yon broad hall with hisheroes did I but see him. Ye must hither hie you; there ye mayfind with him many a lordly man."

To the king now the word was brought, that full lusty knightswere come, who wore white breastplates and princely garb. Noneknew them in the Burgundian land. Much it wondered the kingwhence came these lordly warriors in such shining array, withsuch good shields, both new and broad. Loth was it to Gunther,that none could tell him this. Then Ortwin of Metz (a bold andmighty man was he) made answer to the king: "Since we know themnot, ye should send for mine uncle Hagen, and let him see them.To him are known (4) all kingdoms and foreign lands. If so be heknoweth these lords, he will tell us straightway."

Then bade the king that Hagen and his men be brought. One sawhim with his warriors striding in lordly wise unto the court.

"What would the king of me?" asked Hagen.

"There be come to my house strange warriors, whelm here noneknoweth. If ye have ever seen them, I pray you, Hagen, tell menow the truth."

"That will I," spake then Hagen. He hied him to a window andover the guests he let his glances roam. Well liked him theirtrappings and their array, but full strange were they to him inthe Burgundian land. He spake: "From wheresoever these warriorsbe come unto the Rhine, they may well be princes or envoys ofkings, for their steeds are fair and their garments passing good.Whencesoever they bear these, forsooth high-mettled warriors bethey."

"I dare well say," so spake Hagen, "though I never have seenSiegfried, yet can I well believe, however this may be, that heis the warrior that strideth yonder in such lordly wise. Hebringeth new tidings hither to this land. By this here's handwere slain the bold Nibelungs, Schilbung and Nibelung, (5) sonsof a mighty king. Since then he hath wrought great marvels withhis huge strength. Once as the hero rode alone without all aid,he found before a mountain, as I have in sooth been told, byNibelung's hoard full many a daring man. Strangers they were tohim, till he gained knowledge of them there.

"The hoard of Nibelung was borne entire from out a hollow hill.Now hear a wondrous tale, of how the liegemen of Nibelung wishedto divide it there. This the hero Siegfried saw and much it ganwonder him. So near was he now come to them, that he beheld theheroes, and the knights espied him, too. One among them spake:`Here cometh the mighty Siegfried, the hero of Netherland.' Passing strange were the tidings that, he found among theNibelungs. Schilbung and Nibelung greeted well the knight; withone accord these young and noble lordings bade the stately mandivide the hoard. Eagerly they asked it, and the lord in turngan vow it to them.

"He beheld such store of gems, as we have heard said, that ahundred wains might not bear the lead; still more was there ofruddy gold from the Nibelung land. All this the hand of thedaring Siegfried should divide. As a guerdon they gave him thesword of Nibelung, but they were served full ill by the servicewhich the good knight Siegfried should render them. Nor could heend it for them; angry of mood (6) they grew. Twelve bold men oftheir kith were there, mighty giants these. What might thatavail them! Siegfried's hand slew them soon in wrath, and sevenhundred warriors from the Nibelung land he vanquished with thegood sword Balmung. (7) Because of the great fear that, many ayoung warrior had of the sword and of the valiant man, they madethe land and its castles subject to his hand. Likewise both themighty kings he slew, but soon he himself was sorely pressed byAlberich. (8) The latter weened to venge straightway hismasters, till he then discovered Siegfried's mighty strength; forno match for him was the sturdy dwarf. Like wild lions they ranto the hill, where from Alberich he won the Cloak of Darkness.(9) Thus did Siegfried, the terrible, become master of thehoard; those who had dared the combat, all lay there slain. Soonbade he cart and bear the treasure to the place from whence themen of Nibelung had borne it forth. He made Alberich, thestrong, warden of the hoard and bade him swear an oath to servehim as his knave; and fit he was for work of every sort."

So spake Hagen of Troneg: "This he hath done. Nevermore didwarrior win such mighty strength. I wot yet more of him: it isknown to me that the hero slew a dragon and bathed him in theblood, so that his skin became like horn. Therefore no weaponswill cut him, as hath full oft been seen. All the better must wegreet this lord, that we may not earn the youthful warrior'shate. So bold is he that we should hold him as a friend, for hehath wrought full many a wonder by his strength."

Then spake the mighty king: "Thou mayst well have right. Beholdhow valiantly he with his knights doth stand in lust of battle,the daring man! Let us go down to meet the warrior."

"That ye may do with honor," spake then Hagen; "he is of noblerace, son of a mighty king. God wot, methinks, he beareth him insuch wise, that it can be no little matter for which he hathridden hither."

"Now be he welcome to us," spake then the king of the land. "Heis both noble and brave, as I have heard full well. This shallstand him in good stead in the Burgundian land." Then went LordGunther to where Siegfried stood.

The host and his warriors received the guest in such wise thatfull little was there lack of worship. Low bowed the statelyman, that they had greeted him so fair. "It wondereth me," spakethe king straightway, "whence ye, noble Siegfried, be come untothis land, or what ye seek at Worms upon the Rhine."

Then the stranger made answer to the king: "This will I notconceal from you. Tales were told me in my father's land, thathere with you were the boldest warriors that ever king did gain.This I have often heard, and that I might know it of a truth,therefore am I come. Likewise do I hear boasting of your valor,that no bolder king hath ever been seen. This the folk relatemuch through all these lands. Therefore will I not turn back,till it be known to me. I also am a warrior and was to wear acrown. Fain would I bring it to pass that it may be said of me:Rightly doth he rule both folk and land. Of this shall my headand honor be a pledge. Now be ye so bold, as hath been told me,I reck not be it lief or loth to any man, I will gain from youwhatso ye have -- land and castles shall be subject to my hand."

The king had likewise his men had marvel at the tidings they hereheard, that he was willed to take from them their land. Theknights waxed wroth, as they heard this word. "How have I earnedthis," spake Gunther, the knight, "that we should lose by theforce of any man that which my father hath rules so long withhonor? We should let it ill appear that we, too, are used inknightly ways."

"In no wise will I desist," spake again the valiant man. "Unlessit be that through thy strength thy land have peace, I will ruleit all. And shouldst thou gain, by thy strength, my ancestrallands, they shall be subject to thy sway. Thy lands, and mine aswell, shall lie alike; whether of us twain can triumph over theother, him shall both land and people serve."

Hagen and Gernot, too, straightway gainsaid this. "We have nowish," spake Gernot, "that we should conquer aught of lands, orthat any man lie dead at hero's hands. We have rich lands, whichserve us, as is meet, nor hath any a better claim to them thanwe."

There stood his kinsmen, grim of mood; among them, too, Ortwin ofMetz. "It doth irk me much to hear these words of peace," spakehe; "the mighty Siegfried hath defied you for no just cause. Hadye and your brothers no meet defense, and even if he led a kinglytroop, I trow well so to fight that the daring man have goodcause to leave this haughty mien."

At this the hero of Netherland grew wonderly wroth. He spake:"Thy hand shall not presume against me. I am a mighty king, aking's vassal thou. Twelve of thy ilk durst not match me instrife."

Then Ortwin of Metz called loudly for swords. Well was he fit tobe Hagen of Troneg's sister's son. It rued the king that he hadheld his peace so long. Then Gernot, the bold and lusty knight,came in between. He spake to Ortwin: "Now give over thy anger.Lord Siegfried hath done us no such wrong, but that we may stillpart the strife in courteous wise. Be advised of me and hold himstill as friend; far better will this beseem us."

Then spake the doughty Hagen: "It may well grieve us and all thyknights that he ever rode for battle to the Rhine. He shouldhave given it over; my lordings never would have done such ill tohim."

To this Siegfried, the mighty man, made answer: "Doth this irkyou, Sir Hagen, which I spake, then will I let you see that myhands shall have dominion here in the Burgundian land."

"I alone will hinder this," answered Gernot, and he forbade hisknights speak aught with haughtiness that might cause rue.Siegfried, too, then bethought him of the noble maid.

"How might it beseem us to fight with you?" spake Gernot anew."However really heroes should lie dead because of this, we shouldhave scant honor therefrom and ye but little gain."

To this Siegfried, the son of Siegmund, made reply: "Why waitethHagen, and Ortwin, too, that he hasteth not to fight with hiskin, of whom he hath so many here in Burgundy?"

At this all held their peace; such was Gernot's counsel. Thenspake Queen Uta's son: "Ye shall be welcome to us with all yourwar-mates, who are come with you. We shall gladly serve you, Iand all my kin."

Then for the guests they bade pour out King Gunther's wine. Themaster of the land then spake: "All that we have, if ye desireit in honorable wise, shall owe fealty to you; with you shallboth life and goods be shared."

At this Lord Siegfried grew of somewhat gentler mood. Then theybade that care be taken of the armor of the guests. The best ofhostels that men might find were sought for Siegfried's squires;great easement they gave them. Thereafter they gladly saw theguest in Burgundy. Many a day they offered him great worship, athousand fold more than I can tell you. This his prowesswrought; ye may well believe, full scant a one he saw who was hisfoe.

Whenever the lordings and their liegemen did play at knightlygames, Siegfried was aye the best, whatever they began. Hereincould no one match him, so mighty was his strength, whether theythrew the stone or hurled the shaft. When through courtesie thefull lusty knights made merry with the ladies, there were theyglad to see the hero of Netherland, for upon high love his heartwas bent. He was aye ready for whatso they undertook, but in hisheart he bare a lovely maid, whom he had never seen. She too,who in secret spake full well of him, cherished him alone. Whenever the pages, squires, and knights would play their gameswithin the court, Kriemhild, the noble queen, watched them fromthe windows, for no other pastime she needed on such days. Hadhe known that she gazed on him thus, whom he bare within hisheart, then had he had pastime enough, I trow, for well I wotthat no greater joy in all this world could chance to him.

Whenever he stood by the heroes in the court, as men still arewont to do, for pastime's sake, so winsome was the posture ofSiegelind's son, that many a lady loved him for very joy ofheart. But he bethought him many a day: "How shall that hap,that I with mine own eyes may see the noble maid, whom I do lovewith all my heart and so have done long time. Sadly must Istand, sith she be still a stranger to me."

Whenever the mighty kings fared forth into their land, thewarriors all must needs accompany them at hand, and Siegfried,too. This the lady rued, and he, too, suffered many pangs forlove of her. Thus he dwelt with the lordings, of a truth, full ayear in Gunther's land, and in all this time he saw not once thelovely maid, from whom in later days there happed to him much joyand eke much woe.

ENDNOTES:(1) "Guest" translates here the M.H.G. "gest", a word which may mean either 'guest' or 'stranger,' and it is often difficult, as here, to tell to which meaning the preference should be given.(2) "Eleven" translates the M.H.G. "selbe zwelfte", which means one of twelve. The accounts are, however, contradictory, as a few lines below mention is made of twelve companions of Siegfried.(3) "Vair" (O.F. "vair", Lat. "varius"), 'variegated', like the fur of the squirrel.(4) "Known". It was a mark of the experienced warrior, that he was acquainted with the customs and dress of various countries and with the names and lineage of all important personages. Thus in the "Hildebrandslied" Hildebrand asks Hadubrand to tell him his father's name, and adds: "If thou tellest me the one, I shall know the other."(5) "Schilbung" and "Nibelung", here spoken of as the sons of a mighty king, were originally dwarfs, and, according to some authorities, the original owners of the treasure. Boer, ix, 199, thinks, however, that the name Nibelungs was transferred from Hagen to these dwarfs at a late stage in the formation of the saga.(6) "Angry of mood". The reason of this anger is apparent from the more detailed account in "Biterolf", 7801. The quarrel arose from the fact that, according to ancient law, Siegfried acquired with the sword the rights of the first born, which the brothers, however, refused to accord to him.(7) "Balmung". In the older Norse version and in the "Thidreksaga" Siegfried's sword bore the name of Gram.(8) "Alberich" is a dwarf king who appears in a number of legends, e.g., in the "Ortnit saga" and in "Biterolf". Under the Romance form of his name, "Oberon", he plays an important role in modern literature.(9) "Cloak of Darkness". This translates the M.H.G. "tarnkappe", a word often retained by translators. It is formed from O.H.G. tarni, 'secret' (cf. O.E. "dyrne"), and "kappe" from late Latin "cappa", 'cloak'. It rendered the wearer invisible and gave him the strength of twelve men.

ADVENTURE IVHow He Fought with the Saxons. (1)

Now there came strange tales to Gunther's land, though messengerssent them from afar -- tales of unknown warriors, who bare themhate. When they heard this word, in sooth it pleased them not.These warriors will I name to you: there was Liudeger of Saxonland, a great and lordly prince, and then from Denmark Lindegast,the king. For their journey they had gathered many a lordlystranger.

To Gunther's land were come the messengers his foes had sent. Men asked the strangers for their tidings and bade them hie themsoon to court unto King Gunther. The king gave them greetingfair; he spake: "Be ye welcome . I have not heard who sent youhither, but let that now be told." So spake the right good king.But they feared full sore King Gunther's warlike mood.

"Will ye, O King, permit that we tell the tales we bring, then weshall not hold our tongue, but name to you the lordings who havesent us hither: Liudegast and Liudeger; they would march uponthis land. Ye have earned their wrath, indeed we heard that bothlords bear you mortal hate. They would harry at Worms upon theRhine and have the aid of many a knight; that may ye know uponour faith. Within twelve weeks the journey must befall. And yehave aught of good friends, who will help guard your castles andyour lands, let this soon be seen. Here shall be carved by themmany a helm and shield. Or would ye parley with them, letmessengers be sent. Then the numerous bands of your mighty foeswill not ride so near you, to give you pain of heart, from whichfull many a lusty knight and a good must die."

"Now bide a time," spake the good king, "till I bethink mebetter; then ye shall know my mind. Have I aught of trusty men,I will not withhold from them these startling tales, but willmake complaint thereof unto my friends."

To Gunther, the mighty king, it was loth enow, but in his hearthe bare the speech in secret wise. He bade Hagen be fetched andothers of his men, and sent eftsoon to court for Gernot. Thencame the very best of men that could he found. The king spake:"Men would seek us here in this our land with mighty armies, nowmake ye wail for that."

To this Gernot, a brave and lusty knight, made answer: "That willwe fend indeed with swords. Only the fey (2) will fall. So letthem die; for their sake I will not forget my honor. Let thesefoes of ours be welcome to us."

Then spake Hagen of Troneg: "This thinketh me not good. Liudegast and Liudeger bear great arrogance; nor can we summonall our men in such short time. Why tell ye not Siegfried of thething?" So spake the valiant knight.

To the messengers they bade give lodging in the town. Whateverhate they bore them, yet Gunther, the mighty, bade purvey themwell, as was but right, till he discovered of his friends whothere was who would lend him aid. Yet in his fears the king wasill at ease. Just then full blithe a knight, who wot not whathad happed, saw him thus sad and prayed King Gunther to tell himof the matter. "Much it wondereth me," spake Siegfried, for heit was, "that ye thus have changed your merry wont, which ye haveused thus far with us."

To this Gunther, the stately knight, replied: "It liketh me notto tell all folk the grievance which I must bear within my heartin secret wise. Only to trusty friends should one confide hiswoe of heart."

At this Siegfried's color waxed both pale and red. To the kinghe spake: "I have denied you naught and will gladly help you turnaside your woes. And ye seek friends, I will be one of them andtrow well to deport myself with honor until mine end."

"Now God reward you, Sir Siegfried, your speech thinketh me good,and though your prowess help me not, yet do I rejoice to hearthat ye are friend to me, and live I yet a while, I shall repayyou well. I will let you hear why I stand thus sad; from themessengers of my foes I have heard that they would visit me withwar, a thing which knights have never done to us in all theselands."

"Regard this lightly," spake then Siegfried, "and calm your mood.Do as I pray you. Let me gain for you both worship and advantageand do ye command your knights, that they gather to your aid.Should your mighty foes be helped by thirty thousand (3) men, yetcould I withstand them, had I but a thousand; for that rely onme."

Then spake King Gunther: "For this I'll serve you ever."

"So bid me call a thousand of your men, since of mine own I havebut twelve, and I will guard your land. Faithfully shall thehand of Siegfried serve you. Hagen shall help us and alsoOrtwin, Dankwart, and Sindolt, your trusty men. Folker, thevaliant man, shall also ride along; he shall bear the banner, forto none would I liefer grant it. Let now the envoys ride home totheir masters' lands. Give them to understand they soon shallsee us, that our castles may rest in peace."

Then the king bade summon both his kinsmen and his men. Themessengers of Liudeger betook them to the court. Fain they werethat they should journey home again. Gunther, the good king,made offrance of rich gifts and gave them safe-convoy. At thistheir spirits mounted high. "Now say unto my foes," spake thenGunther, "that they may well give over their journey and stay athome; but if they will seek me here within my lands, hardshipsshall they know, and my friends play me not false."

Rich gifts men bare then for the envoys; enow of these hadGunther to bestow, nor durst the men of Liudeger refuse them.When at last they took their leave, they parted hence in merrymood.

Now when the messengers were come to Denmark and King Liudegasthad heard how they parted from the Rhine, as was told him, much